Ferrous futures in top steel producer China rose, with rebar hitting a one-week high and iron ore set for its third straight weekly gain, buoyed by signs of increased activity in the country’s construction sector and pre-holiday demand.
The most-active January rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trade 1.3 percent higher at 3,766 yuan ($530.61) a ton, after touching its highest since Sept. 15 at 3,787 yuan.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 1.3 percent to 719 yuan ($101.30) a ton.
On the Singapore Exchange, iron ore’s benchmark October contract was up 0.1 percent at $98.40 a ton as of 0700 GMT.
Chinese steel mills have ramped up production this month, with their average daily crude steel output in the 10 days to Sept. 20 hitting a three-month high of 2.89 million tons, according to industry data provider Mysteel.
“Activity in the physical market is also rising, as the industry prepares for the week-long National Day holiday at the start of October,” ANZ commodity strategists said in a note.
An improvement in domestic steel demand and some end-users building inventories ahead of the holiday trimmed stocks held by traders by 1.8 percent over Sept. 16-22 from a week earlier, Mysteel also said.
